Real-Life "Fault in Our Stars" Wife Dies Five Days After Husband

Katie Prager, the wife in a couple often likened to the characters in John Green's famous The Fault in Our Stars novel, died just five days after her husband, Dalton Prager. Katie, 26, and Dalton, 25, each suffered from the lung disease cystic fibrosis. The couple met on Facebook when they were both 18, and eventually planned to meet in person, despite doctor's warnings that patients with cystic fibrosis could contract infections from one another. This left Katie to make a choice over whether she was willing to risk catching a highly contagious strain of bacteria that Dalton carried. She chose to take the risk. "I told Dalton I'd rather be happy — like really, really happy — for five years of my life and die sooner than be mediocre happy and live for 20 years," Katie told CNN. "That was definitely something I had to think about, but when you have those feelings, you just know."

Katie and Dalton were married in 2011. Katie's cystic fibrosis case gained national attention as she developed a Burkholderia cepacia infection (the same one Dalton carried), which restricted the number of medical centers that specialized in her condition. In 2014, Dalton got a lung transplant and in 2015, Katie got also got a lung transplant, and it seemed like her life had turned around. It appeared that she and Dalton would get a chance to finally spend real time together — until each developed complications after their lung transplants.

The couple celebrated their five-year anniversary in July, the last time they would be together. Dalton continued to receive treatment in St. Louis, while Katie remained in a hospital in Kentucky. As their health conditions worsened, Katie began to make plans to see her husband one last time. "All I want is just to see him even if it's for one time for a few minutes," she said, according to WKYT. In the end, neither would be healthy enough to make the trip to be together one last time. As Katie recognized that she would not recover from the complications of cystic fibrosis, she posted on Facebook thanking people for being a part of her journey.

In the days before her death, Katie recognized the novel-like love that she shared with Dalton: "I think that if we had gotten the chance to write a book that it would have been a bestseller," she told CNN. When asked how the story would end, her answer was simple. "And they lived happily ever after," Katie said. "In each other's arms for eternity."